


Dealing with The Death of a Diamond

by Zinthezinner



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Monster Hunters, F/F, Gen, Tags Contain Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:20:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27076393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zinthezinner/pseuds/Zinthezinner
Summary: Ruby wakes up one Sunday minus a sister.
Relationships: Kunikida Hanamaru/Kurosawa Ruby
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Dealing with The Death of a Diamond

Ruby had awoken that Sunday morning to the sounds of her mother crying. She’d only heard her mother cry once before: when her own mother (Ruby’s grandmother) had passed away of cancer several years ago. Ruby had cried too when that happened, locking herself in an embrace with her mother and older sister. Dia had joined in, albeit far more dignified. The older sister’s tears were a silent kind, the kind that streamed slowly from eyes that so desperately tried to hold them back.  
  
Dia was good at not crying, Ruby thought. Especially compared to her ever-tearful baby of a sister. She’d seen Dia cry before, of course, but most of those times were when they were little and she was injured. Dia didn’t cry at her grades, at people raising their voices or laughing, at having to pay for things or go places, at being tapped on the shoulder, at being late or early. Ruby, on the other hand, at all of those things and far, far more. Virtually at the drop of a hat.  
  
Now she has a good reason at least, she thinks.  
  
Earlier, Ruby had crept out of bed, scared of what could possibly have upset her stoic parent to the point of tears. Scared was right. She had heard her mother muttering to her father between sobs, asking how something so gruesome could happen to their daughter.  
  
Suddenly paranoid that she herself had died, or perhaps unwilling to accept the alternative, Ruby had checked to see if she was a ghost. She could see herself, feel herself, but she supposed that ghosts could do that too. She tried walking into a wall, but just hit her face.  
  
“Ruby?” Her father had asked. He was not crying, and he never had. At least, not in front of Ruby. Maybe he really had never cried. He was so… together. It seemed that everyone was, at least compared to herself.  
  
“Y-y-yes?”  
“Are you alright?”  
“M-mm! I’m okay!” she had lied frantically.  
“Come here.”  
“A-alright!”  
“And sit down.”  
  
Ruby had obeyed, sitting opposite her parents in the living room. There was an uncomfortable silence as her mother tried to compose herself, ultimately failing and falling back into her husband’s arms. Ruby fidgeted, ever more worried about what could have happened.  
  
“It’s Dia,” he had said over the wailing.  
“She’s dead.”  
  
Ruby’s eyes crossed, an instant headache storming into her brain. Tears started pouring down immediately. It was all too… real! Dia not already being there, her mother crying, and of course her father would never lie about this! Part of her had wanted to scream, to say ‘No!’ over and over until she could do it no longer. She wonders why she didn’t, and comes to the conclusion that there was no denying it. There was no denying it, not then and not now.  
  
Apparently she had slept through a lot, including police interviews. Once she had had a late breakfast, which at that point was also lunch, Ruby was interviewed herself. They had asked her all sorts of questions, and she could barely squeak out replies to questions like ‘What were you doing last night?’, ‘When did you see her last?’, and ‘Do you know of anyone who disliked her?’.  
  
“Um… Ruby-chan..? It’s Maru.” accompanies a knock at her door.  
  
Ruby squeaks. She tries to dry her tears as she replies to her friend.  
  
“Hanamaru-chan?”  
“I heard the news and figured I’d come to see you. May I come in, zura?”  
  
Ruby isn’t sure whether she wants company until she notices how hard she’s been gripping her pillow. Maybe cuddles would be good…  
  
“Mmm…”  
  
The door is opened, and Hanamaru enters. She’s dressed in casual clothes that make her look like a fun-but-not-too-fun librarian, as she often is. She sits on the bed, which Ruby barely makes room for. She doesn’t want to move.  
  
“Maru is sorry for your loss.”  
  
Ruby can only nod.  
  
“You’ve been crying all day, haven’t you zura?”  
  
Another nod.  
  
“Maru doesn’t blame you. Losing a family member is tough, zura.”  
  
…  
  
“You’ve got people to support you though, you know? Aqours is here for you. Maru is here for you.”  
  
…  
  
“May I lay down with you? Do you want cuddles?”  
  
A nod.  
  
Hanamaru sets her bag on the floor and lies down next to Ruby, who immediately latches onto her with a vice-like grip. Ruby would worry about crying into her friend’s blouse, but she knows she doesn’t mind. She’s done it before more times than she can count. Her back is patted softly as she does, but it doesn’t take the pain away.  
  
Suddenly! The door to the bedroom slams open dramatically, and someone yells.  
  
“Hanamaru!”  
“M-M-M-Mari-san??”  
“Get away from Ruby!”  
“Ehhhhhh?”  
  
Ruby looks up to see the glint of metal coming off of something in Mari’s hands.  
  
“G-g-g-g-g-gun?!?!?”  
“ _Yes_ _!_ Now step away from Ruby, Maru!”  
“Alright, alright!”  
  
Obeying, Hanamaru gets out of the bed and stands to one side.  
  
“What are you doing here with a gun, zura? If you’re here to hurt Ruby-chan, I swear I’ll-”  
“Me hurt her? Oh, but you’re the one hurting her Maru!”  
“What?”  
“Care to explain? What happened earlier.”  
“W-what? I don’t know what you mean, zura!”  
  
The gun is aimed at Hanamaru’s head, which Ruby can only watch in fear.  
  
“It is loaded, y’know!”  
“But how do you know about it, zura?”  
“Never underestimate a stalker, Maru!”  
“Scary…”  
“Not as scary as you! Now, do explain to the _audience_ what happened earlier.”  
“Do I have to, zura?”  
“If you don’t want me to shoot you right here right now, yes!”  
  
The concerned look on Hanamaru’s face is not wasted on Ruby. She’s not sure what’s happening right now, but it’s terrifying.  
  
“I… alright. You can lower the gun, Mari-san. Maru will explain.”  
“ _Good girl!_ ”  
  
Audibly swallowing, Hanamaru begins.  
  
“Maru was not born a normal girl like you two. She was born a… she was born a horrible monster. When she came out, she had tentacles and too many mouths. It’s very rare, only 1 in 38 million births have my condition, and they’re usually quietly snuffed out not long after being born. Maru was an exception. Her family wanted her very badly, as they had lost opportunities before, and they saw in her the potential to be calm and kind. For a long time, she was! But…”  
“But…”  
“But Maru… lost control for the first time last night.”  
“It’s funny, really! I’ve been hunting monsters for a while, but I never suspected one right under my nose! You’re just lucky I happened to be spying on Dia!”  
“‘Lucky’, yeah.”  
“You seem awful quiet, Ruby. Quite a bit to take in, isn’t it~?”  
  
Yeah! It is! Ruby’s still not entirely sure what’s happening, but she doesn’t like where this is going. She grips her pillow tighter.  
  
“Now, are we going to explain the incident~?”  
“Mm. Um. Maru didn’t want to confess like this, but… she’s loved Ruby-chan for quite some time. She finally got up the courage to ask for Dia-san’s blessing, but… she was denied. Dia-san got mad at Maru for daring to want to ruin Ruby-chan’s innocence with romance. Maru can understand protective, but she was so mad! Maru got mad too, and Dia-san got madder, and Maru got madder, and then…”  
  
Maru looks to her feet in shame.  
  
“The tentacles came out. M-Maru didn’t mean to! It just… happened! And she’s really sorry, zura!”  
“But ‘sorry’ doesn’t bring Dia back, does it?”  
“No, zura. If Ruby-chan wants me dead, you can kill me. I’m a monster!”  
"Ruby? What say you?"  
  
She’s… not sure. Ruby loves Hanamaru, but she was also very close with Dia. Hanamaru said it was an accident, but does that make it okay? Filled with uncertainty, she looks to one side.  
  
“Looks like we have our _answer_ , creature-Maru! Let’s take this outside, shall we~?”  
“T-that wasn’t a yes! You’re being trigger-happy!”  
“Oh? But didn’t you say you were willing to die?”  
“I…”  
  
Hanamaru puts her hands to her head in frustration.  
  
“I want to protect Ruby, zura! You can’t do this, zura! She doesn’t need two people dead!”  
“You think she can live happily next to a _beast_ like you? You see how scared she is already!”  
“N-no! I did it because I love her zura! You know that, right Ruby-chan?”  
  
Like a deer in the headlights, Ruby stares with dinner-plate eyes. She can’t move.  
  
“ _Come on_ , Maru! Don’t make this harder on the poor girl!”  
“N-no! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”  
  
And then… a change happens. Suddenly, very suddenly, barbed tentacles are sprouting and toothy mouths are opening.  
  
Suddenly, very suddenly, Mari raises her gun.  
  
Suddenly, very suddenly, there’s a shot.  
  
Ruby screeches, scrunching her eyes closed. She can’t block out the feeling of warm blood spilling onto her, but she can block out the sounds with her screams and the visuals with not looking. Over her shrieking there’s another gunshot.  
  
The sense of doom Ruby has been feeling is not unfamiliar, and she’s not sure whether it feels more or less real right now. She’s not sure if she’s even thinking. The only sensations that are making sense to her are those of her lungs ripping themselves to shreds.  
  
After a while, there is quiet.  
  
A viscera-coated body joins Ruby on the bed and embraces her, apologising profusely.


End file.
